(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a watching support apparatus and a program recording system which support watching and recording programs such as TV broadcast.
(2) Description of the Related Art
In recent years, along with the widespread digital broadcast, various kinds of programs have been broadcasted. Also, due to the widespread use of Electronic Program Guide (hereinafter, referred to as EPG), it has been made possible to check, on TV screen, the schedule of programs to be broadcasted in the future. Moreover, along with the widespread use of hard disk and Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), it has been made possible to easily record programs.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 09-102827 discloses a technique for remote-controlling electronic devices in home by using a cellular phone. In particular, it has been made possible to set timer recording from outside by remote-controlling a device which can receive broadcast in home using a cellular phone.
Also, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 11-164217 suggests a system in which: user's taste for TV programs is extracted based on the details of timer recording into a hard disk and the like, and a watching history of programs; and a program associated with the user's taste is recommended among the programs to be broadcasted in the future.
However, there is a case where even when a user attempts to record a currently broadcasted program or a program checked in an EPG, the program is not broadcasted in the location (in many cases the user's home) where a recording apparatus is positioned. Therefore, there is a case where a user cannot record content even if the user attempts to record the content by an in-home recording apparatus, the content being watched using a cellular phone.
Also, in the case where a user goes to a different location from the user's residential area, the user can watch an EPG of the different location. However, in such case as described above, even if the user attempts to record a program by an in-home recording apparatus using the EPG of the different location, the same program may not be broadcasted in the user's residential area.
In addition, in the case where a user goes to a different location from the user's residential area, the user can enjoy entertainment of the different location by watching broadcast content of the different location which is different from broadcast content that the user usually watches. However, in the program recommendation system in which the conventional statistical information is used, the same program as usual is recommended using information regarding the user's usual taste, although there are programs that can be watched only in the different location.
Moreover, even when a user attempts to record a currently broadcasted program by an in-home recording apparatus, it takes time to connect from a cellular phone to the in-home recording apparatus and set recording. Therefore, the currently broadcasted program may not be recorded. Furthermore, in the case where the in-home recording apparatus is being used or timer recording is already set, recording may not be performed by the in-home recording apparatus.